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The kilted Mary Poppins of Madrid

Fernanda Jacobsen was a controversial figure in the Spanish civil war

The Spanish civil war has become the stuff of left-wing legend: the brave comrades of the International Brigades who fought Franco's fascist forces, the fearless nurses tending the wounded, the breadline families who spared a shilling to help the republican cause.

Scotland has long been proud of its Spanish connections. It sent 23% of all British volunteers to the International Brigades, despite only making up 9% of the population. Now, as the war's 70th anniversary approaches, an Edinburgh-based archivist has discovered that the first Scots to play a part in the Spanish civil war were not a politically-motivated cadre fired up with anti-fascist zeal. They were a disparate bunch of medical professionals, brought together by a former Lord Provost of Glasgow to form the Scottish Ambulance Unit (SAU). And, in this most divisive of conflicts, the SAU was neutral, ready to help the wounded on both sides.